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Sec. 35.1-22. Buildings, Uses and Lots.

Sec. 35.1-22. Buildings, uses and lots.

(a) Building lot required. Every building or structure hereafter erected shall be located on a lot as herein defined. Where more than one (1) building is erected on a single lot, open spaces or courts shall be provided between buildings as provided herein.

(b) Street frontage required. No permit shall be issued for any land use or structure unless the lot on which such land use is to be established or such structure is to be built has frontage providing access on at least one (1) dedicated, improved street extending across the entire front of the lot where right-of-way extends on the property line with at least twenty (20) feet of pavement with fifty (50) feet of right-of-way. This requirement may be waived by the city council in the case of planned unit developments, cluster commercial developments, traditional neighborhood developments, and townhouse lots for sale complexes where adequate public and private access is provided to such land use or structure.

(c) Reduced street frontage requirements. A permit may be issued for a land use or structure on a lot with less than the required street frontage if:

(1) The lot fronts on a cul-de-sac, in which case the minimum street frontage shall be thirty (30) feet; or

(2) The lot is a flag lot meeting the requirements of Section 24.1-28.1 Flat lots.

(3) The lot is an existing lot of record on September 12, 1989 and has a perpetual unobstructed easement of access at least thirty (30) feet wide to such a street to serve one (1) building.

(4) The lot is an existing lot of record on July 11, 2011, in which case the lot shall provide access on at least one (1) dedicated, improved street extending a minimum of twenty-five (25) feet past the driveway accessing the lot.

(d) Yard and open space. No yard or open space required or provided about any building on one (1) lot for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this ordinance shall be considered as providing a yard or open space for a building on any other lot.

Where more than one (1) building is erected on a lot, an open space or court shall be provided between the buildings. Such open space shall be equal in width to twice the width of a side yard required for the district in which the buildings are located. No dwelling, however, shall be erected in the rear of another building on the same interior lot.

(e) Reduction or subdivision of lots. No lot shall be subdivided or reduced in area in such a way that existing lots or structures are brought into nonconformance with the regulations of this ordinance.

(f) Lots under water or within the one hundred (100) year floodplains. No more than ten percent (10%) of the minimum area requirements of a lot, or the area used to calculate floor area ratios or permitted number of dwelling units, may be fulfilled by land which is under water, in marshland or in the one hundred (100) year floodplain as determined by the department of public works, City of Lynchburg.

(g) New buildings on lots less than the required minimum area. A permit may be issued for the erection of a building for a permitted use on a lot existing before the adoption of this ordinance, not withstanding that the area or dimensions of such lot are less than that required for the district in which such lot lies, providing:

(1) That no use other than a single-family dwelling will be permitted;

(2) That all yard setbacks and other requirements which are in effect at the time of the obtaining of the building permit are complied with; and

(3) That the owner of such a lot did not own other lots contiguous thereto at the time of the adoption of this ordinance. If the latter is the case, such lot, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall be combined with the first named lot to make one (1) or more conforming lots, whereupon a permit may be issued, but only for such combined lots. Where the required area of dimensions of lots are changed by an amendment of this zoning ordinance, any legal lot existing at that date, and made nonconforming by such amendment, may be built upon within the limits of the two (2) conditions mentioned above in this paragraph.

(h) Parts of lot not counted toward area requirements. For any lot created by subdivision subsequent to adoption of this ordinance, no part of that lot less in width than one-third (1/3rd) the minimum requirement for the district in which it is located shall be counted as part of the required minimum lot area.

(i) Minimum dwelling unit size. See city "housing standards ordinance" of the city code.

(j) County boundary lines. A structure which would be split by a county boundary line shall be permitted by a conditional use permit under the regulations of Section 35.1-15 and Article X of the zoning ordinance. (Ord. No. O-78-352, 12-12-78; Ord. No. O-89-248, § 1, 9-12-89; Ord. No. O-98-013, 2-10-98; Ord. No. O-05-077, 6-14-05; Ord. No. O-11-118, 10-11-11)